PHILADELPHIA - The Penn field hockey team gave a valiant effort in the final minutes Sunday afternoon at Franklin Field, but fell just short and lost to Brown, 3-2.

The Quakers fell to 3-13 overall, 1-5 in the Ivy League. Brown improved to 5-11 overall and 2-4 in the Ivies.

Both teams had nice chances in the first half, but went to the break scoreless. For Penn, Julie Tahan had three outstanding efforts off penalty corners, one that was saved by Lauren Kessler and two others that just missed wide. At the other end, Elara Mosquera had a nice chance off a corner that forced Danielle Rothman to make the save with her blocker.

Rothman tripped a Brown player in front of the goal area early in the second half, setting the Bears up for a penalty stroke. Katie Hyland took the stroke for Brown, and her shot to the left side was met by a diving Rothman, keeping the game scoreless.

Shortly after that, though, the Bears broke through. A short corner was played outside the circle, then sent back in from the top. Tacy Zysk was able to get to the ball just before Rothman, and she re-directed the ball past Rothman's right foot where it rolled slowly in.

Seven minutes later, Brown doubled its lead when Leslie Springmeyer used a nice run from distance to get into the circle. From there, she fired a shot past Rothman's right foot that tucked inside far post.

Penn called timeout, and the response was almost immediate -- the Quakers got a short corner, and Tahan had two shots that were both stopped by Kessler. However, Kessler was called for withholding the ball after the second save, giving Penn a penalty stroke. Tahan was called to take it, and the freshman rocketed a shot inside the left post to make the score 2-1.

Penn's momentum was short-lived. Less than a minute later, Brown got a short corner -- the Bears took 11 in the game, compared to Penn's 10 --- and after Mosquera's first shot from the top of the circle was blocked by a Penn defender, she re-gathered it and pushed a shot past Rothman's right inside the left post.

A Brown player was called for a yellow card with just over two minutes to go in regulation, putting the Bears down a man. Penn took advantage -- with just 43 seconds left, Annie Matthews got the Quakers within a goal after a nice combination at the top of the circle with classmate Laurel McGarvie. For the senior duo, Sunday's game was their final one at home.

Brown outshot Penn on the day, 10-9, as both Kessler and Rothman made four saves.

Penn will conclude the season next Friday night at Princeton, which clinched a share of the Ivy League title yesterday with a 3-2 win over Cornell. The Quakers and Tigers will face off at 6 p.m.